Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 303, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 December 1919 — Diamond Cut Diamond [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Diamond Cut Diamond

By JANE BUNKER

Conyriaht byghe Bobbs-Merrill Cosumw CHAPTER VI. Monsieur Drops His Mask. The wild-eyed Swedish maid let me in. ' The seance room door opened and

ML de Ravenol stepped out and came to greet me. Monsieur advanced with outstretched hand but no smile. We spoke in whispers. "Where is she?” He pointed up, to Indicate her bedroom, and whispered, “I must speak wis you before you see her,” and moved out of the vestibule, motioning me to follow. I took two steps and stopped. “Zis way, if you please,” said he, pointing to the seance room. I took two more steps and stopped again, in front of the reception room door. I had the strongest feeling come over me that I didn’t want to go Into the seance room with him —that I simply could not go—that my feet refused to budge another inch in that direction. As I hesitated—for there was such a ratty look in his face that he repelled me —he added, “Pardon, madame, but I have for ze present ze responsibility. It was merely zat I wish beforehand to acquaint madame wis ze nature of ze disaster zat have overtaken her friend zat I ask for some words in private—” he made a gesture toward the basement stairs, and dropping his voice, finished, “Obe never knows but ze most trusted servants in one’s employ are spies.” Thinking of the wild-eyed one, I smiled. He shrugged. "Madame,-we are wasting precious time zat may mean every sing to Madame Delario. Permit me to beg of you—” And I followed him at once to the seance room, the door of which he pushed open, standing aside and saying in French, “Permettez mol . . . Aprex vous, madame,” to let me enter ahead of him. To my surprise the room was brilliantly lighted with all the electric bulbs in full bloom; and I turned just in time to see him lock the door on us and Docket the. key!'. He did it so swiftly, so silently, that under ordinary circumstances I shouldn't have'known I was locked in with him. I believe that the brilliant light Into’ which he’d thrust me out of the dim'hall was especially designed to confuse me should I turn on him sooner than he had calculated I would. But the very Instant I crossed the threshold I knew he was going to lock the door, and I wheeled —just one second too soon. Had I taken four more steps into the room I should have been none the wiser about the key’—till the time came. But having caught him in the act I let him know it. “What, monsieur,” I demanded haughtily, “is the object of that precaution, may I ask?” “It was necessary," he returned, coming toward me and searching my face with his beady eyes. Neither of us spoke for several seponds. Where was Mrs., Delario. and had anything really happened to her? Was this merely a precaution on his part against spies, or did he mean me some harm? Well, if he did, I had a couple of good stout hatpins within calL • “Monsieur, you will kindly unlock that door immediately." “In one moment—when I have Mid what I have to say,” he replied, ta > smooth attempt to keep up appearances. “I have someslng of importance toaskmadame—” ”And_Lhave nothlng_to_say Jo mon-

sieur—-behind F inter- ■ kupted angrily. “If monsieur is a gentieman he will Instantly unlock that door.” He took a step nearer, as if to show me he had no intention of taking orders from me. He’d open the door when he got ready to. I thought he meant to lay hands on me. I whipped out my hatpin and confronted him, my eyes blazing and my teeth set so hard I heard them grit My act brought him to his senses, and he began to apologize—said he was sorry he had “alarmed” me — that on his word of honor meant me no harm whatever —a whole lot of palaver like that, designed to get the hatpin where it came from and me into*an amenable frame of mind and once more at his mercy. I listened to the palaver coolly—with the batpin in my hand I felt perfectly safe, and I didn’t put it back. I hardly thought he was armed himself, or he’d have drawn when I did, and the hatpin in my firm clutch gave me a sense of immense advantage in dialogrue. I actually,_in a minute or two, had several thrills of joy. I had more thrills when he said, “I implore mad-

ame to consider ze position she. puts me in—a gentleman—by standing zere wis a weapon in her hand.” His face darkened. The black showed under the roses. “Is madame intending to converse wis me, holding a weapon in her handr “Is monsieur intending to converse with me behind locked doors?” “For ze present —yes.” “Very well, then, get it over. What is it?” I felt very sure by this time it had nothing, directly, to do with Mrs. Delario. “It is zis—my daughter, Claire, was robbed of some very valuable jewels on ze steamer coming over. Zere are but two persons who could possibly have committed ze seft —Mrs. Delario and —yourself.” I was dazed—so dazed that I stammered. “You say Claire was robbed coming over on the. steamer —andyoq think I did It?" "Precisely.” My wits came back with that flat accusation. “Then why didn’t she say something about it at the time?” 1 demanded. “Probably because she was not aware of it at ze time —one seldom is, if I . may be permitted to point it out to madame.” I was so completely innocent of even knowing that the girl had jewels with her—except such little trinkets as a child values and that nobody but a street thief would have bothered his head over—that I saw monsieur’s accusation as blackmail. That word suddenly popped into my head and gave me the basis of a return attack. “You mean to tell me that Claire had valuable jewels on the steamer yet never mentioned the fact to either Mrs. Delario or myself?” “Naturally, she says nossing—why should she? She is under no obligation to speak of such a matter to you.” “In other words, she was smuggling valuable jewels into the country—trying to get them through the customs house without our knowing It, so we could tell her to declare them?" “Smuggling? She is taking zem to her musser—zey have once been purchased in America.” “I don’t believe she bad any jewels,” I asserted bravely. “Merely to say she had—and she hasn’t got them now — doesn’t prove anything. You must have sense enough to see that for yourself.” His face had darkened again. “You doubt my word? I have ze proof, madame, ze absolute proof—zat she had ze jewels wis her when she went on board ze steamer; and while on board; and-'bp to a certain date. I can furnish proof zat would be accept in any court—if madame renders it necessary.” / His tone carried conviction in spite of myself; also, I kneV he was ready l to have me put under arrest and furnish his proof in court. For, a minute I went limp and sick. But I pulled my- . self together for another shot at him—- “ Thea you admit she was smuggling jewels into the country?” He shrugged—l thought to conceal fils uneasiness at the way I was taking tt. “Ze jewels belong to my wife—a wedding gift from her timer—ls you call it smuggling—" "But .they were np{ declared—l

know that anyway. Weil, then—since they were not declared, they were to all Intents and purposes smuggled. We shall now act as though they had been smuggled—we shall at once enlist the services of the government in your behalf. After the jewels are discovered, you can present evidence that they were not subject to duty. Or, of course, you can pay the duty. I suppose they are worth that to you to get them back?” “What do you mean, madame?” he exclaimed in a tone that to me sounded alarm. “You sink I ask your government to seek for zoze lost jewels of my daughter? Diable —pardon—and lose zem so soon as I find zem?” “Not you, but I —l will ask the customs house officials to take up the case.’’ “You? . . , You? . . . Madame, of what are you sinking?” t “I—yes, certainly,” I replied firmly, fbllowlng up my advantage; for he had given it away to me that he didn’t wish the customs house to know about i this little smuggling of Claire’s. “Since I you have seen fit to accuse me of a robbery I know nothing about, I shall —I must —do all I can to help Claire get her jewels back in order to prove my own innocence. I will go to the customs house and report the whole matter tomorrow morning.” “You will do nosslnfe of ze sort!” He fairly hissed the words at me. “You will tell nobody zat ze jewels have been stolen —nobody. And you will give me your promise before you leave zis room.” He turned scarlet, and then deathly white, but be got control of himself immediately. So that was the way the wind blew! My shot had carried home —I felt I had him, a good deal worse than he had me. I gave him another dose of the same ammunition —“I certainly shall —there’s nothing else to do. Now, then, what were the jewels Claire was smuggling in?” He kept back a retort by biting his lip and glared at me. “What were the jewels?” I repeated. “You must at least tell me that —since you accuse me of taking them. What were they? I know absolutely nothing about them. You may believe me or not as you choose, but It’s your own loss if you don’t” My words seemed to shake his conviction for a moment —but only for a moment; what he said next left me no doubt as to the gravity of my situation in the matter. “And now, madame, we lay all subterfuges and evasions to ze side, Zere are but two persons who could have ze jewels of my daughter—yourself and Madame Delario. I have already questioned her, fully—to be quite frank —I have search ze house —wis her permission I have also search her person by means of a woman detective—and she has convinced me zat she has not ze jewels of my daughter.” "Neither have I,” I snapped. He went on as if I hadn’t spoken. “My evidence is positive, and wis Madame Delario’s denial of all knowledge—ber wish zat I send for you and give you ze opportunity to explain—” “Where is Mrs. Delario —let me see her immediately,” I broke In. “Do you mean to say she accuses me of robbing your child?” “I do not say she precisely accuses —but she has seen you—and Claire has seen you—wis ze package containing ze jewels in your hand.” I burst out hotly, “That’s a lie — every word of it! I’never touched her jewelry-—or the package containing her jewelry. Never.” He flushed a deep red at the insult, but he was making every effort to control himself —seeing how enraged I was, he probably thought I’d use my hatpin on him next —and I whipped him on, feeling that I had the upper hand. “Yes, monsieur—l shall make you take this case to court,” I went on rapidly. ’ “After that I shall sue you for false arrest—and imprisonment, if Tm imprisoned. But meanwhile, I shall immediately set the customs house officials on the hunt for your daughter’s jewels and find out whether they were actually brought into America or not. If the jewels are in the least valuable —as you seem to be trying to make out —there’ll be quite a neat little duty to pay, provided they’re not confiscated outrightwhich is more than likely. Monsieur, you have overlooked the fact that I asked Claire—and I heard Mrs, Delario ask her —if she had anything to declare and she told me she had not So I shall be a witness in the government’s case against you.” His expression had changed from anger to cynical contempt and he sneered: “Very clever, madame —very creditable to madame’s nerve—ha, ha I Madame is afraid of nossing but to lose zoze so valuable jewels of my daughter—•” and with that he stepped so close I thought he was going to lay hold of me. I stepped back, just out of immediate reach and took a firm grip on my hatpin, x . , 1 “And now, madame —we —lay—all— subterfuges—and evasions—to xe •ide: Where are ze jewels of my daughter?” “And now, monsieur,” I mocked, “we —lay—all subterfuges and evasion—to—the—side: I don’t know.” With a quick dive of his hand into his pocket he whipped out a small revolver. "Perhaps zis will refresh madame’* memory,” he leered. Well, it refreshed madame’s some- ‘ thing—for want of a better term DI • call it creative genius. I waved the. revolver aside with a gesture of eon- * tempt and began: “Since, monsieqr has been at all this trouble to obtain an interview with me, may I iudSTa

questions? It may be of Importance to both of us.” . “Proceed." “Monsieur Is, I believe, a stranger In America. Has monsieur ever acquainted himself with New York state laws?" “To some extent—yes.” “Well—ah—l was merely wondering, you know, If monsieur were aware of the fact that In New York state, kidnaping is a capital offense —that Is, punishable with death?” “But what has kidnaping to do wls our present case?” he asked frowning. “Oh, only that monsieur is, at the present moment, In the act of kidnaping me.” That hit him, but he held his ground. “I do not see it, madame. Kidnaping consists in taking ze person by violence and against ze wish.” “Not In New York state. Monsieur forgets that he is not in France or Germany, but in New York. The New York courts hold that forcible detention against the will is kidnaping. You are at this moment, in the eyes of the law, a kidnaper.” "Impossible!” he exclaimed. “Certainly,” I returned. “You have only to look up the cases and convince yourself. In the Halloran case, M"year ago, Halloran only locked a girl up and refused to let her out when she asked. He did her no harm and made no threats” —here I looked at'the revolver in a significant way—“but he got twenty years. But in the Comlnsky case —the man who was electrocuted last week, as you probably read In the papers—Comlnsky locked a woman up and threatened her with a revolver. He got the death penalty.” As these fictitious cases dropped off my tongue, monsieur, with a catlike slyness, slipped the revolver back Into hls pocket, though he made no move to open the door as I had hoped. Still, I saw I had gained ground with him—though the ground I longed for lay outside the house. "Very good," said he, after some seconds of consideration ; “we are not kidnaping madame. Madame has ze Jewels —of zat I am positive—eizer upon her person, or in some place concealed, and until madame decides to return zem, she will make herself comfortable here wisout food or water, but if she wishes to give zem to me now, she may depart at once.” I laughed in his face. I think this disconcerted him more than anything I’d done. “How long do ‘you think you can Hkeep me here?” I demanded. “Zat depends on madame,” he returned with a shrug and a significant glance at the shuttered windows. “You speak aS though you supposed nobody knew where I was.” “It is useless for you to call to Madame Delario —she will not come.” “I wasn’t thinking of doing it. But my brother will come! He knows that I am here and he is coming for me. He was in my house when your message came. He had come over from Philadelphia with hls lawyer and some papers for me to sign. When you told me Mrs. Delario was so ill, I waited for nothing—rushed down here as fast as I could. My brother and his lawyer were to follow me here in an hour and I am to go with them to the notary’s to sigh the papers. The hour is almost up!” Monsieur bit his lips. Here was a contingency he hadn’t reckoned with —that I had arranged to have some one call for me. Then a bright idea struck him. “Zat matter is simply arranged,” said he with a wicked smile. “I tell your dear brozer zat you have already gone home to him, and he will not wait” I tried to laugh again, though I fear I made but a poor attempt at it, for I was beginning to be frightened. But I said: “Don’t flatter yourself you could deceive my brother with a tale like that —he knows me too well. I told him I would wait and he knows 1 would keep my word. He vfould know the Instant you said I had gone—he would know the minute he looked into your face—that something was wrong —here. In five minutes he’d be back with the police and break in the door." This took the wind out of hls sails for a minute. Then he rose to the situation in a masterful way; and I must say for him that he was no mean adversary. Drawing the key from his 'pocket he unlocked the door, saying, “And now madame will telephone her brozer zat Madame Delario is dying and he is not to come today about ze important papers.” I saw my one chance lay in pretending I’d do it and then breaking loose; so I stepped out—he at my heels ready to grab me —and making a feint of going upstairs to the telephone, he followed suit by putting one foot on the lowest step. At that, X gave a loud, wild-western “whoopee!” right in hls face, and punched him in the chest as hard as ever I qpuld. He lost his balance, went rolling backward and sat down on the floor. Before he recovered from the shock of my unladylike behavior, I had bolted through the front door and reached the street (TO BE CONTINUED)

Anxious to keep in touch with the folks at home, Mrs. A. P. Ketchum sends an S. O. S. and asks that the Republican undertake to do the job by visiting her twice a week at Long Beach, Cal. John Makeever, of New York City, who had been visiting D. S. Makeever and other relatives, left here today for Battle Creek, Mich., where his wife is receiving treatments. He will continue to his home from Battle Creek. The Christmas number of the Rensselaerien ,the high school publication, will be mailed to the subscribers Friday. It is chock full of good, live-news and carries an abundance of Christmas lore—bound to please the younger folk as well as the older ones. “Chick” Harley, Ohio, State grid star and All-American halfback, has rejected an offer of SSOO a game to enter professional football. He will continue his work at Ohio next year, although ineligible to participate in his school’s affiletic activities. - & Now that winter set in with its added handicaps, patrons of the Evening Republican routes should do their share in aiding the carrier boy to see that their paper is delivered promptly and safely each evening. Subscribers whose porches offer no secure place to put the paper should see to it that there is a brick or stone on their porch under which the paper may be placed, thereby insuring its safety against the wind. The Republican carrier boys are mighty faithful youngsters and patrons should co-operate with them and lighten their burden as much as possible, x The end of the world prediction made by Professor Porta evidently didn’t alarm Jasper county farmers, as the present week has, been the most popular one to date for the holding of public sales. Two sales were held Wednesday, those of Barney Kohloff and Charles Guttrich. Both sales were well attended and good prices was the rule. Joseph Shindelar and Ross Meyers are holding sales today, December 18. and J. C. Bristow and Harry Wood have sales slated for December 19. However, there will be but few sales held during the remainder of the month, but January has a heavy boolring and the auctioneers will be kept on the go most of the time.

The Wild-Eyed Swedish Maid Let Me In.

His Face Darkened.